ServiceNow scoops up Neebula for $100M

ServiceNow, a publicly traded IT software company, is shelling out $100 million for Neebula, a startup with software that maintains maps of available IT infrastructure.

The all-cash deal will bolster ServiceNow’s IT Operations Management software, according to a statement on the acquisition. And it means Neebula will no longer have to compete with large companies with hefty marketing budgets.

A promotional video on Neebula’s website suggests that the startup’s main software offering directly targeted one flavor of ServiceNow software.

“Neebula is a leader of service availability management, bringing tools in at roguhly 20 percent of the cost and deploying them roughly 20 percent faster than the big four, which would include HP, IBM, CA, ServiceNow, and others,” the video’s narrator says.

But Neebula’s capabilities differ from ServiceNow’s, a ServiceNow spokeswoman wrote in an email to VentureBeat.

“Neebula’s ServiceWatch enables IT organizations to manage end-user business services (CRM, billing, tax payment, fund transfer services) from the top down,” she wrote. “ServiceNow’s approach is to monitor the components (servers, network, storage, applications) from the bottom up. Together, they will give ServiceNow a more complete way for companies to predict and automate their IT.”

Neebula was gradually integrating with existing IT service management software from legacy vendors. Last year it announced integration with IBM Tivoli and CA’s Nimsoft software.